Our Silver Streak; or, the Yachtsman's Guide from Harwich to Scilly

Front matter

Our Silver Streak, OR THE YACHTSMAN'S GUIDE FROM HARWICH TO SCILLY. BY ARTHUR UNDERHILL. LL.D., Holder of a Board of Trade Master's Certificate of Competency, Commodore of the Cruising Club, and Author of "Simple Navigation for Home Waters." " So long as sunn'd sea waters round me pour Their saving strength — so long as I can hear The thund'rou. teachings of old ocean's lore, And breathe salt breath, I'm well content ot cheer."' W. C Scully LONDON NORIE & WILSON, AT THE NAVIGATION WAREHOUSE & NAVAL ACADEMY, i56, MINORIES, E., Opposite the Aldgate Metropolitan Railway Station To MY WIFE AND DAUGHTER, THE Constant Companions of my Cruises, tljis Moi-h is Affectionately Dedicated. SEEPAGE PHIS is a book for yachtsmen, written by a member of the fraternity who, from long experience, believes that such a guide is wanted.

The standard pilot books are most excellent and carefully written works, but, for the ordinary pleasure sailor in home waters, they give both too much and too little information. Too much, because they confuse the mind with shoals and rocks which can only be dangerous to merchant vessels of heavy draught, or clumsy coasters incapable of beating against a strong inset. Too little, because their information is confined strictly to matters of navigation, whereas a yachtsman wants to know something of the history and topography of the parts which he visits ; something, too, of the places of interest, or beauty, or amusement, in or near to them, and of their amenities and conveniences from a pleasure seeker's standpoint. In this little book, I have endeavoured to combine as much pilotage as is required by the owner or skipper of, say a fifty tonner, with a chatty descrip tion of other matters of local interest likely to be useful or amusing.

In order to lighten somewhat the body of the work of technical details, I have appended, at the conclusion of each chapter, (i) a table of magnetic courses and distances, (2) a des cription of lights, and (3) an account of the tidal streams. This plan has the additional advantage of concentrating these details, so that they may be readily found ; whereas in most of the standard pilot books, they are scattered about without any regard to the reader's convenience. I have also carefully avoided any refernce to those annoying marks, which figure so often in the usual works, as " so-and-so's house on with some one-else's garden wall " ; because it has always appeared to me that a yachtsman who was so well acquainted with a harbour as to be able to identify "so-and-so's" house, would scarcely require any very elaborate directions for finding his way in or out.

Chapter I. Introductory

THE Channel is probably regarded by most English folk as a land of marine purgatory, the torments of which must be endured by all who would reach the fair havens of Paris or Brussels, Berlin or Vienna. Even many of those favoured children of fortune who pass their lives on its shores, look upon it with mixed feelings of dread and admiration, and would consider a cruise from the Straits to Falmouth in anything less than a mail steamer as a distinct and almost blasphemous "tempting of Providence." And yet, surely we, the fortunate heirs of Shakespeare's " Sceptred Isle " ought to love '• This silver sea, Which serves it in the office of a wall, Or as a moat defensive to a house, Against the envy of less happier lands ;" for it is not only our bulwark against aggression, but the basis of our commercial greatness, and the inlet by which the kindly waters of the gulf impart to our southern shores a warmth without which we might find ourselves reduced to the climate of Moscow or Quebec.

Moreover, the Channel has a glorious record, and was the scene of many of those great struggles of the past which are leading marks in the history of our country. Here, between Dover and Ramsgate, the legions of Cæsar forcibly brought Roman civilization into Britain. Later on the Conqueror, landing near Hastings, introduced that element of Norman INTRODUCTORY. 2 blood and Norman custom which has had such a remarkable effect upon our development as a nation. Here too, at Plymouth, Howard of Effingham, Drake, Hawkins, Frobisher and Mannington. " set on a brag countenance," and with their fleet of tiny ships (many under ioo tons burthen and scarce any over iooo) boldly attacked the great Armada, and " gave them chase, as though we had wanted nothing until we had cleared our own coast, and some part of Scotland."

Here in Torbay, William of Orange landed, and sealed the fate of the Stuart Dynasty ; and here many stoutly contested battles have been fought between our vessels and those of the French and Dutch during the 18th and the early part of the 19th centuries, not always ending so gloriously for England as is generally assumed. But alas ! there is a sombre and still more tragic side to the picture, only brightened by the heroism and self-sacrifice of those " Storm Warriors " of whom the Rev. John Gilmore has so eloquently and sympathetically written. For, year by year, the Channel claims its tribute of wrecked ships and gallant lives, some times in great disasters like the storm of November nth, 1891, which startled the entire nation, but oftener in accidents to obscure fishing or coasting craft which passing unnoticed, save for a few lines under the ever recurring head of "Disasters at Sea " in the daily press, yet bring untold grief and utter destitution to many a happy home.

But to those for whom this work is mainly written, the Channel is not only interesting historically, commercially, and geographically, but is above all a delightful playground where the worries and anxieties of the shore may be cast aside for a time, and where pure and vigorous breezes will quickly repair the inroads which those anxieties and worries may have made both in body and mind. For the Channel is not ever turbulent as many think ; there are in summer, to quote the beautiful lines of Mr. R. Buchanan, frequent " Golden dawns and glassy days, When the vast sea is smooth and sunk in rest, And in the sea the gentle heaven doth gaze, And seeing its own beauty smiles its best, With nights of peace, when in a virgin haze God's moon wades through the shallows of the mist. The Channel is, in truth, as pleasant a summer sea as the pleasure sailor need desire, and although it cannot boast the grandeur of the scenery of the West of Scotland or Ireland, yet in many parts (particularly along the shores of Devon and Cornwall) it possesses coasts and harbours of the greatest beauty, while it has many prosaic advantages of its own, in climate, in proximity to London, and in the facility with which stores can be obtained and repairs done, the absence of which often causes real discomfort in a yachting cruise.

The English side of the Channel too, is well furnished with — " Harbourage for ourselves, our ships and men." herein differing from the French Coast, where havens in (_trV-_ which vessels can be afloat at high water, are few and far between. In short, taking it all in all, the English Channel is as fine a yachting ground as need be desired. But in addition to the Channel properly so called, the Downs and the Thames Estuary as far as Harwich, form part of the cruising ground of a south country pleasure sailor, and I have therefore included them in an account of that " Silver Streak," to which this little work is intended to be a guide. With this explanation, I now invite my readers to accompany me on an imaginary cruise from Harwich to the Scilly Isles, taking the River Medway, and various harbours of the Channel en route.

Chapter II. Harwich And Its Rivers

" And Stour, that parteth with his pleasant flood The Eastern Saxon from the southern nigh, And Clare and Harwich both doth beautify." Faerie Queen. STEPPING out of the train at Harwich a five minutes walk takes us to the pier, whence the dingey will transport us to our little ship which lies in the usual yacht anchorage in the River Stour, between Harwich and Parkstone jetties. Having stowed our gear and refreshed the inner man, we may do well to take a survey of our surroundings. A glance at the chartlet will shew that the fine sheet of water in which we are lying is formed by the Rivers Stour and Orwell which here unite, and, after flowing together for the space of about a mile and a half, discharge themselves into the North Sea between Dovercourt and Languard Point. The harbour is well sheltered from all winds, and is only 71 miles by railway from London.

Add to this the fact that it possesses a good club and a bracing climate, and its popularity with Thames yachtsmen will not be found surprising. Harwich is also one of the most important ports on the East Coast of England, and daily communication is now established between it and the Continent by means of the £r$.E. Railway Co's. fine steamers, plying to and from Rotterdam, Amsterdam, and the Hague. They all sail from Parkstone Pier (to the West of Harwich) shortly after 10 p.m. every night, and are very fine vessels. A guard-ship (generally an ironclad) is also stationed here. The harbour is very spacious, and in the old days (when Her Majesty's ships were not so cumbrous as they are now) it is said that 100 men-ofwar and 300 to 400 colliers have been at anchor there at one time, without crowding or riding in danger of one another.

Even now there can be no doubt that it would in war time shelter a large fleet. The value of Harwich as a place of arms is not a modern discovery, the very name being derived from two Saxon words signifying the headquarters of an army. But even before the days of the Saxons, the Romans undoubtedly had a camp near the town of considerable extent, which may still be traced. The high road leading to it is still called " the Street," and several Roman coins have been dug up in the neighbourhood of it. One of the earliest of our recorded sea fights took place at Harwich in the year 885, between the fleet of King Alfred and that of the Danes, in which the latter were repulsed, and another took place in 1666, between the Dutch and English fleets, in which the Dutch were defeated. It is said that the rise of Harwich is due to a very curious natural phenomenon, viz., the submergence of a former town called Orwell, which stood on what is now a shoal outside Harwich harbour known as the West Rocks.

Certain it is, that ruins of buildings have been discovered on West Rocks. Tradition also says that formerly the outlet of the harbour which is now south of Languard Point lay to the north of it, at a spot occupied by Felixstowe Marsh.* If this be true, it would seem probable that the extensive shoals which lie between the west side of the entrance and the land, (com prising West Rocks, the Cork Sand, the Stone Banks, and the Naze Flats), and the site of the present Channel, were dry land, and, together with Languard Point, formed the southern barrier of the harbour, somewhat in the same way as the peninsula of Pendennis now forms the south-western barrier of Falmouth harbour, which, in its general configuration, is not unlike that of Harwich. Anyhow, it is certain, that all along the Thames estuary, the sea is, and has for centuries past, been gaining slowly but surely on the land.

The town of Harwich itself is devoid of interest, and the one building of note, the church of St. Nicholas, only dates from 1 82 1. Dovercourt, which is situated about half a mile east of Harwich, is a rapidly improving watering place, possessing a chalybeate spring, similar to that at Tunbridge Wells. The * Beauties of England and Wales, Vol. V. 329. HARWICH AND ITS RIVERS. Spa house is fitted with a library and reading room, and a museum of fossils and Roman antiquities, and is a great resort of visitors If you desire to get rid of a spare hour or so, you might well pay it a visit. Probably both Harwich and Dovercourt must now yield the palm to Felixstowe, which is situated to the north-east of the entrance. This town, which was largely the creation of the late Col. Tomlin, is becoming a very favourite watering place, and boasts a pier, harbour, and railway station, (the latter close to the pier).

The route to London by this railway is via Ipswich, and is somewhat longer than the route from Harwich, but is convenient in the case of yachts lying off Felixstowe pier. There are also golf links at Felixstowe for those who like that game. The day of our arrival is too far spent to make it prudent to sail over the flats to Brightlingsea, so let us take what the local steamboat managers describe as — " a flit into the German ocean." . . Having weighed our anchor, we round Harwich Pier, and make for the " Guard " buoy which is moored on the south side of the entrance to the Stour. Leaving this on our star board hand, we steer S.E. for about 600 yards until past the "North Shelf" buoy which is also left on our starboard side. The course is now S. by W., keeping the line of red and white buoys on the same side, until we come to the bell buoy off Languard Fort.

Leaving this on our port side, we alter our course abruptly, steering E. by S. for the Cork lightship, passing between a red and white striped buoy to starboard, and two red ones to port. We may then consider ourselves launched on the waters of the German Ocean, and enjoy a few hours sail up and down the coast before returning into harbour by moonlight. The time having arrived for a retreat, we again make for the Cork lightship, and thence keep a west course until the two bright lights of Dovercourt are in one N.W. by W. L W. Then keeping them in one, we sail direct for them and this will bring us right down to the bell buoy. As the night is calm, and the wind offshore, a quieter and pleasanter anchor age than the Stour, and one in which the water is cleaner and fresher for the morning " tub," will be found off Felixstowe Pier towards the red light on which, we accordingly direct our little craft.

If the weather had been less favourable, and we had found a gale raging on our arrival at Harwich, I should not have advised lying either in the Stour or off Felixstowe, for in both situations at such times '; Thou art like to have A lullaby too rough." Our best course would therefore have been to run five miles up the Orwell to Pin Mill, where a small vessel may ride in absolute safety and comfort in 3 fathoms least water. It must not, however, be supposed that Pin Mill is only to be visited as a refuge, for in truth it is a pretty sail in all weathers, and at all times of the tide. This little village is situated on the west bank of the river, about five miles from Harwich. It is extremely lovely and rural, resembling some what King Harry's Ferry on the River Fal, and the bells of a neighbouring church on the east bank, are some of the most charmingly musical that I have ever heard in England.

A quiet summer evening at anchor at this little spot cannot fail to please. A pull of about five miles in the dingey will bring one to Ipswich, whence there is an excellent service of trains to London. The River Stour is so encumbered with mud flats that it cannot be recommended for a cruise, nor is its scenery to be compared with that of the Orwell ; still it is a fine sheet of water for dingey sailing, or for enjoying a few hours in one of the centre board yachts for which the locality is famous

Chapter III. Harwich To Brightlingsea

" But I shall think of shallows and of flats. Mer. of Ven., I. i. FOR a yacht of moderate draft (eight or nine feet) the most direct course from Harwich to Brightlingsea is by way of the Medusa Channel, across the Naze flats, and thence down the Wallet. For vessels of heavier draft how ever, it is safer to go round the Cork lightship, and outside the Cork Sands and West Rocks, and thence through Goldmer's gat into the Wallet. * As our vessel only draws nine feet, we will proceed over the flats ; but as there is not more than 6 feet in the channel at low water, we will not start until the flood tide begins to make. The shallow Medusa Channel lies between the Naze on the west, and the shoals known as the Stone Banks, Cork Sand, and West Rocks on the east. Taking our departure from the bell buoy we steer direct for the Stone Banks buoy (red and white vertical stripes), S. J W., three miles distant.

Passing this buoy close on our port hand, we continue the above course for about one-and-a-half miles, until the Naze Tower bears N.N.W. | W., when we are well into the Wallet. The Wallet is a huge pudding-bag of a waterway, about eighteen miles long and three wide, bounded on the N.W". and W. by the Essex Coast, and on the S.E. by the dangerous Gunfleet and Buxey Sands. These sands act as a breakwater, and consequently it is almost always calmer in the Wallet than it is outside in the great marine highway to the north called " The Swin." The Wallet is far deeper on the Gunfleet side than it is on the Essex shore, so that it is necessary to give the Essex Coast a berth of at least a mile until past Clacton-on-Sea, (which is situated about halfway between Walton and the Colne, and may be known by its pier).

The shoal then becomes more extensive, forming a •The magnetic courses for this route will be found at the end of the chapter. g spit called Priory Spit, the extreme south point of which is marked by a red buoy, and at and after this point the Essex shore cannot be safely approached within a mile-and-a-half, until the large gas buoy called " Knoll," which is moored at the entrance of the Channel into the Colne, is passed- With regard to the other side of the Wallet, bounded by the Gun fleet, the sand is very steep-to, and as it is one-and-a-half miles broad in the middle by the lighthouse, we must not approach within that distance of the line of buoys which mark the south-eastern edge, and directly the water begins to shoal to less than six fathoms go about. Having fetched Priory Spit buoy (red) we make for the large gas buoy, distant about two miles, marked " Knoll," moored on the west side of the entrance of the channel into the Colne.

Thence the course is N.W. W., leaving the above mentioned " Knoll " buoy to port, and the red buoys named " Eagle " and " Colne Bar " well to starboard, as they mark the west edge of most dangerous shoals. After passing Colne Bar buoy we steer about north, leaving the white fishing buoy on the port hand and keeping well on the east side of the entrance until opposite Brightlingsea Creek, when we can bring up in four fathoms ; or if the weather were coarse we could run up Pyefleet (the channel between the north of Mersea Island and the mainland), where a vessel can ride out the worst gale in safety and comfort. Brightlingsea is quite a yachting town, and good hands are to be obtained there, but to my mind it is not a good yachting rendezvous, as two changes are necessary in order to get to London, viz., one at Wivenhoe and one at Colchester.

This necessarily makes the journey irksome, especially if you are taking down stores. Moreover, if the main line trains are late, as not unfrequently happens on Saturday afternoons in the summer months, you may miss the train from Wivenhoe to Brightlingsea, and find yourself stranded for several hours. The distance too from Bright lingsea station to the landing place in the creek is considerable, and on a hot summers day, with a heavy " Gladstone *' or a hamper of provisions, this does not improve the temper. On the whole therefore, Brightlingsea does not strike me as at all a good head-quarters for yachting. It has, however, one great HARWICH TO BRIGHTLINGSEA. 10 recommendation, viz., its oysters. These called " Colchester Natives " are excellent, and may be obtained at a little more than half the price charged in the London shops from Mr. Stammers, to whose place any of the human natives will direct the hungry yachtsman.

NOTES ON PILOTAGE. (i.) Magnetic Courses and Distances. Harwich bell buoy up centre of channel into the harbour as far as North Shelf buoy, N. by E. i\ miles. Harwich bell buoy to Cork lightship, W. by N. i\ miles, Cork lightship to Cork Sand buoy (R.W.V.S), S.S.E. \ E., i£ miles. Cork buoy to West Rocks buoy (black), S. | E., 3} miles. West Rocks buoy to Knoll gas buoy (off Colnemouth), W. by S., 16 miles Harwich bell buoy to Stone Banks buoy (R.W.V.S.), S. J W., 3 miles. From the point (on prolongation of the last course) when Walton Naze Tower bears N.N.W. J W . to Knoll gas buoy, passing close out side Priory Spit buoy, W. by S. J S., 11 miles. Knoll gas buoy to Colne Bar buoy, N.W. \ N., \\ miles. Colne Bar buoy into the River Colne, N. j W. , 3J miles. (2) Lights. Harwich Piers. West green, middle red. east green.

Felixstowe Pier. Red. Landguard Fort. Green. Landguard Point. Red to seaward, and white towards harbour. Dovercoast lights. Two fixed, white. In line, they lead through channel up to bell buoy. Cork lightship. White, revolving every J minute. Clacton Pier. Red. Gunfleet lighthouse. Red revolving. Knoll buoy. Winking. (3.) Tides. H.W., full and change about noon. Rise about 12 feet springs and 9 feet neaps at Harwich, and 14 and 10 feet in the Colne and Blackwater. The N.E. stream commences at high water, and the S.W. stream at low water.

Chapter IV. The Blackwater And Crouch Rivers

" Plenteous rivers and wide skirted meads," Lear, I. i. JUST outside and to the westward of the Colne and at nearly right angles to it is the river Blackwater. The author of "Mehalah" gives .the following description of this part of the country — " Between the mouths of the Blackwater and the Colne, on the east coast of Essex, lies an extensive marshy tract, veined and freckled in every part with water. It is a wide waste of debateable ground contested by sea and land, subject to incessant incursions from the former but stubbornly maintained by the latter. At high tide the appearance is that of a vast surface of moss or Sargasso weed floating on the sea, with rents and patches of shining water traversing and dappling it in all directions. The creeks, some of considerable length and breadth, extend many miles inland, and are arteries whence branches out a fibrous tissue of smaller channels flushed with water twice in the twenty-four hours.

At noon tides, and especially at the equinoxes, the sea asserts its royalty over this vast region, and overflows the whole, leaving standing out of the flood only the long island of Mersea, and the lesser isle called the Roy. * * * A more desolate region can scarce be con ceived, and yet it is not without its beauty. In summer the thrift mantles the marshes with shot satin passing through all gradations of tint, from maiden's blush to lily white. There after a purple glow steals over the waste, as the sea lavender bursts into flower, and simultaneously every creek and pool is royally fringed with sea aster. A little later the glass wort that shot up green and transparent as emerald glass in the early spring, turns to every tinge of carmine. When all vegetation ceases to live and goes to sleep the marshes are alive and wakeful with countless wild fowl.

At all times they are haunted with sea mews and royster crows, in winter. they teem with wild ducks and grey geese. The stately heron loves to wade in the pools, occasionally the whooper swan THE BLACKWATER AND CROUCH RIVERS. 12 sounds his loud trumpet, and flashes a white reflection in the still blue waters of the fleets. The plaintive pipe of the curlew is familiar to those who frequent the marshes, and the barking of the brent geese as they return from their northern breeding places is heard in November." This eloquent and graphic description is by no means over coloured, and gives an excellent idea of the nature and appearances of this flat and curious region. The Blackwater is not a difficult river to navigate, as the shoals lie exclusively along the shores, and the channel keeps fairly midway between them as far as Osea Island, after which it becomes very narrow and tortuous, and cannot be attempted by a stranger without the assistance of a pilot.

To enter the Blackwater, we proceed towards Colne Bar buoy (mentioned in the last chapter) which is situated at the confluence of the deep channels of the Colne and Blackwater, kept apart up to this point by an extensive flat lying to the south of Mersea Island. From Colne Bar buoy, the course is W.N.W. about a mile, until the red and white ringed buoy called " Bench Head " is passed on the starboard hand. We are then in the Blackwater, and must keep mid-channel, about N.W., until past the west extremity of Mersea Island. Thence the river curves slightly to the southward, and the course becomes W. by S. J S. for nearly three miles, Peawit Island being left three or four hundred yards to port. When the vessel is exactly between Tollesbury Church on the north bank, and St. Laurence's Church on the south, the Channel runs direct for Osea Island about W. by N., being here decidedly nearer to the south bank than to the north.

An interesting row may be had in a dingey from Osea Island to Maldon (about five miles) which is an important market town, delightfully situated on a hill from which a fine view of the Blackwater is obtained. Having sailed out of the Blackwater, let us now visit the River Crouch, which is the third of the Essex rivers de bouching into the Wallet. It is renowned for the sport which it affords in winter to the wild-fowler, the saltings on Foulness Island being perhaps more frequented by these birds than any other place on the coast. Of course the services of a local fowler and his gunning punt are required for this sport. To enter this river, we must take our departure from the Knoll gas buoy and steer S.W. by W., leaving the red and white chequered buoy, and afterwards the beacon on the Buxey sand to port.

When past the Buxey beacon, we alter our course to S.W. by S. until a quarter of a mile past the red Buxey buoy (which leave to port), and then steer W. by S. until well in the river. After this, we may keep about mid channel until the tributary River Roach * on the south side of the channel is reached. From this point the north shore must be hugered (as there is a bank or ■' horse" on the south shore) until we arrive at Burnham, where there is a "horse" with one and a half fathoms in mid-river. Here we may bring up, or proceed five or six miles further up in not less than one and a quarter fathoms L.W.S. It is now possible to take the railway at Burnham, and proceed direct to London, which makes it a far more convenient port than it was formerly. There is another passage into the Crouch leading from the Swin Channel.

This Channel starts from the Whitaker Spit gas buoy, whence the course is due west, passing between two red buoys to starboard, and a red and white chequered one to port. When the second red (Buxey) buoy is reached, the course is W. by S. until well into the river as above directed. Generally the Blackwater and the Crouch afford good smooth water sailing, and first rate wild fowl shooting ; but the surrounding country is flat, marsh)', and devoid of interest, and may also be conjectured to be not over healthy. * This river (the Roach) is navigable even at low water sprirgs, for up wards of three miles, as also is Havengore creek which runs out of the south side of it. About two and a half mil s up the Roach, on the nor'h bank, some pilots live who would be found u-eful by the wild-fowler.

Chapter V. From The Colne To The Nore

" River ! O. river ! upon thy tide Full many a freighted bark doth ride." Hoffman, THERE is a narrow and shallow passage out of the Wallet between the Gun Fleet and Buxey Sands, called " the Whitaker Spitway," and as this saves a long journey round by Goldmers Gat, it is generally used by yachts sailing from Brightlingsea to the Nore. It is however, un doubtedly silting up, and at low water springs one cannot reckon on more than six feet of water in the channel ; and at extraordinary springs there is considerably less than that. Starting from the Knoll gas buoy, the course to the inner Spitway buoy (red and white horizontal stripes with staff and cross) is S.E. \ E. two and a half miles. We pass this buoy close on either hand, and steer for the outer or south Spitway bell buoy (black) S. f E. Leaving this to the westward, we must now direct our course S.W. \ S. for the Whitaker gas buoy distant about two miles.